Limited and VOD Releases: Loyal and True
July 1, 2016
It is a slow week for limited releases, with only five earning enough reviews to talk about. Of these, Our Kind of Traitor is earning the loudest buzz, but its reviews are only good and not great. There are three films that are earning great reviews, but two of them are foreign-language films and the other is a documentary. None of them are expected to be hits in theaters.
Carnage Park - Reviews
The Innocents - Reviews
Life, Animated - Reviews
Microbe and Gasoline - reviews
Our Kind of Traitor - Reviews
Secondary VOD Releases:
Video on Demand
A woman, Ashley Bell, is taken hostage after a bank heist gone wrong. After being driven into the country, she escapes only to realize the bank robbers drove onto the property of a serial killer. This is an interesting setup, but it has almost no chance of box office success. It is the wrong genre for limited release, its reviews are mixed, and it is playing on VOD. That said, it's a $7 VOD rental. There are worse ways to spend your money.
This film takes place in Warsaw at the end of World War II. A doctor is rushed to a covenant where one of the nuns is about to give birth. There, she finds many nuns in advance stages of pregnancy. This isn't a supernatural pregnancy, but a victim of war crimes pregnancy. The reviews are amazing, but the subject matter is too dark to expect the film to expand beyond the art house circuit. The Innocents opens tonight in three theaters, two in New York City and the other in Los Angeles, with scheduled expansions over the coming weeks. Check out the official site for more details.
A documentary about a young man, Owen Suskind, who was unable to speak until his family used Disney animated movies to teach him. The reviews are excellent and it is a feel-good film, which might help. However, like most documentaries, its chances of expanding significantly are nearly zero.
A French coming of age film about two outcasts who decide to build a car and take a road trip across France. Foreign-language films rarely expand significantly in limited release; however, this one is directed by Michel Gondry and he's got some box office cred here. I'm not saying it is going to expand significantly, just that it has a better shot than most similar films do.
A couple vacationing in Morocco get caught up in Russian organized crime and have to help a money launderer get safely to London. This film has a lot of star power and more buzz than most limited releases generate. However, its reviews are merely good and not great. The buzz could help it be the biggest hit on this week's list, at least for the weekend.
Buddymoon - Reviews - Video On Demand
Marauders - Reviews - Video on Demand
Roseanne for President! - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Satanic - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Buddymoon is the only secondary VOD release that is earning good reviews, while two of the four films on this part of the list have no review at the moment. Sadly that's common for secondary VOD releases.
Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Satanic, Our Kind of Traitor, Microbe et Gasoil, Carnage Park, Life, Animated, Marauders, Les Innocentes, Buddymoon, Roseanne for President!, Michel Gondry, Ashley Bell, Lou de Laage